When traveling in a vehicle such as an automobile, a two seated truck, a van or the like, it is lawfully necessary to place an infant in the back seat of the vehicle providing safety to the infant.
However, problems are encountered when the infant is placed in the rear seat of the vehicle since it is often difficult, if not impossible, to view the infant properly and still enable the driver of the vehicle to maintain proper eye contact with the road.
Further, the law requires that infants be placed in a specially designed infant seat that is constructed and arranged so that the infant is facing the rear of the vehicle.
There are numerous United States patents disclosing the use of a back seat mounted infant seat with a forward facing viewing mirror aligned with the front rear-view mirror including:
Cossey, U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,572 which discloses a device for viewing an infant in the rear seat which device clamps with difficulty and prospective instability onto the top of the back seat and includes a telescopically mounted mirror which slopes downward so the driver can readily see the infant in the rear view mirror;
Westman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,453,882 shows another rear seat object viewing device mounted (for adequate stability it must be interior-destructively screwed into the vehicle interior) between the seat and the headliner having an adjustable (rear-view distorting) mast and slanted mirror to reflect an object into the rear mirror so the object can be seen by the driver;
Harris, U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,118 discloses another infant observation mirror strapped (with difficulty to impossibility) with poor security to the top of the rear seat in a position which makes it difficult to see the infant from the rear-view mirror;
Erickson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,956 shows yet another non-portable mirror system (not universal) with the mirror insecurely mounted to the rear window by an adhesive;
Rubin, U.S. Pat. No. 5,576,898 also involves a non-portable, rear-viewing system for a vehicle wherein the mirror is mounted in the headliner and folds down for use;
Harris, Jr., U.S. Pat. No. 4,549,790 similarly discloses a non-portable, rear-viewing system for a multiple seat vehicle which uses a circular mirror mounted directly to the interior rear of the vehicle;
Gardner, U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,618 discloses a non-portable rear seat viewing device having a mirror mounted on the shelf posterior to the rear seat with a light source around the perimeter of the mirror to light an infant""s face at night while obscuring the driver""s view out of the rear window; and,
Collins, U.S. Pat. No. 5,668,526 discloses an infant monitoring system using a mirror mounted in a teddy bear or similar item which is mounted on the back seat rest and prospectively can be vibrated loose from it (non-secure) and which system requires changing the rear-view mirror to observe the infant.
Unfortunately, all these disclosures fail to teach individually or collectively suggest a back seat situated infant viewing system observable from a front rear-view mirror having portability, use universality, vibration secure without destructively altering the interior of the vehicle and visual obstruction exterior of the rear window.
A primary object of the present invention to provide a portable system for viewing an infant in the rear seat of a vehicle while enabling the driver of the vehicle to maintain proper eye contact with the road.
A secondary object of the present invention to provide a vehicle vibration secure system of the above type in which a driver utilizes his standard vehicle rear view mirror to view the infant in the back seat.
A third object of the present invention to use an adjustable reflector, such as a second mirror, disposed in the back seat to reflect the image of the infant to the rear-view mirror of the vehicle for viewing by the driver of the vehicle.
The fourth object of the present invention is to provide an easily to a reflector that reflects images of objects in a back seat that can be mounted against any inclined window headliner or ceiling headliner surface.
The fifth object of the present invention is to provide a reflector that reflects images of objects in a back seat that can be adjustably mounted to various height distances that exist between a rear seat backrest and a window headliner/ceiling.
The portable, universal system of the present invention is designed for viewing an infant in the rear seat of the vehicle and utilizes an infant imaging mirror mounted on an adjustable mast means between the back seat and roof of the vehicle to provide vibration security, said mirror adjustably alignable to the rear-view mirror for viewing by the driver of the vehicle. The upper portion of the mast means can pivot to any surface angle that exists in the window headliner and/or ceiling of the vehicle. The mast means can be made from a post that is telescopingly received in a cylinder, where the extended height of the post can be clipped in place and easily adjusted for varying heights that exist in different vehicles between the rear backseat and the window headliner and/or ceiling.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment which is illustrated schematically in the accompanying drawings.